Rare Bird Sighting ~ Costa's Hummingbird

The Costa's Hummingbird is a rare sight on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia...in fact, in 40 years of record-keeping it has never been seen before. But a lone male Costa's has made an appearance in Gibsons, B.C. in none other than the former mayor's yard. Barry Janyk has played host to this gorgeous hummingbird since mid-July.

What's the big deal, you might ask? Well, this particular hummingbird breeds in California's Sonora desert and Arizona's Mojave desert. So he's a long way from home and he's decided to spend time in a coastal rainforest. Strange. Another male Costa's hummingbird has also been spotted in a Vancouver neighbourhood. At first it was believed that these two birds were one and the same however it has since been confirmed that they are two different Costa's.

Barry Janyk graciously allowed me to spend some time on his back deck photographing this tiny (3.5" long) hummer. Although small, this particular hummingbird was incredibly feisty, constantly chasing away a female Anna's hummingbird who was competing for nectar at the same feeder. He kept a fairly constant vigil so the Anna's only got in a few sips of sweet nectar.

The hummingbird had a couple of favourite perches. Here he is on just one of them.

Costa's Hummingbird

It was a rare treat to be able to see this incredible hummingbird with the violet gorget and crown. I hope more of these beauties make their way to the Sunshine Coast!

hummingbird art

Baby Hummingbirds

I recently had the amazing experience of being able to see two baby hummingbirds grow up. A customer of mine kindly let me know about a rufous hummingbird nest and I jumped at the chance to see it. One day she took me there, and I managed to get one shot of the mother hummingbird sitting on the nest.

Mother Hummingbird on Nest

The babies had already been born and I believe this was the last day the mother sat on the nest. (By the way, the beautiful nest is made out of lichen and moss, and lined with feathers and sometimes bullrush fluff. Often hummingbirds bind the nest with spider web, which is strong but flexible.)

The baby hummingbirds were tiny featherless creatures that reminded me of little lizards. When you looked at the nest from the side, all you could see was two beaks sticking up. (That's how hummingbirds sleep, by the way, with their beaks straight up in the air.)

Here are the baby hummingbirds a few days later.

Baby Hummingbirds in Nest

I noticed that one of the babies looked a lot smaller than the other so I did a little research. Apparently hummingbirds almost always lay two eggs, and usually the eggs are two days apart. However that doesn't explain the size difference between the two babies because hummingbird eggs usually hatch on the same day.

Knowing that it takes about three weeks for hummingbirds to leave the nest, I visited a couple of more times. Here's a shot of the two hummers when they were starting to get too big for their nest.

Baby Rufous Hummingbirds in the Nest

I returned a few days later to find that one of the hummingbirds had already left the nest. He was flying around, making peeping sounds at his mother who was also nearby.

I found the other baby hummingbird sitting on the edge of the nest.

Baby Hummingbird Sitting on Nest

The nest was in the middle of the woods but right on a trail. I had to walk past the nest to photograph the hummingbirds because the tree branches were in the way on the other side. The tiny bird calmly watched me as I passed and just seemed to be sitting there thinking things over while I photographed her. (I don't know why I think of her as a "she" but I do.)

Here's another shot of the hummingbird telling me that she'd had enough of the picture-taking...

Baby Hummingbird Sticking Out Tongue

She stuck her tongue out a few times...I'm not sure why hummingbirds do this, but they do it fairly often.

When I walked past the nest to leave I heard the unmistakable buzz of a hummingbird in flight. The baby hummingbird had left the nest! She flew to one of the cedar tree branches, was fed by her mother, then flew a little further.

I stayed for a few more minutes, watching the happy family. What an incredible feeling to be able to witness this. I'll always remember it.